← Scoop City: Inside The NFL
Scoop City: Inside The NFL
Has Jalen Hurts, Eagles offense improved after improbable win vs Rams + Justin Herbert continues MVP campaign with win over Broncos
01:01:12
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- [00:00]
James Palmer
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- [00:41]
Diana Rossini
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- [01:38]
Chase Daniel
Terms apply. Lounge access is subject to change. See capitalone.com for details. Did you get a haircut, James?
- [01:45]
James Palmer
I did get him cut, man. I was getting kind of flowy up there. This guy Kirk is no joke, guys. But his schedule is a nine to fiverr and you got a book like five weeks in advance.
- [01:55]
Diana Rossini
Really?
- [01:56]
Chase Daniel
It's brutal.
- [01:57]
Diana Rossini
I just went through this with. I canceled the hair appointment with my woman, and she didn't have her first appointment until January 4th.
- [02:05]
Chase Daniel
Yo, I feel like women, women are different. Like women.
- [02:09]
James Palmer
Women are different.
- [02:10]
Chase Daniel
Barber.
- [02:10]
James Palmer
Yeah, this guy's a straight barbershop.
- [02:12]
Chase Daniel
Here's the special thing that I feel like my special talent is I can really see someone and just tell right away if they got a haircut. Like, I just. I noticed that, like, that's my special talent. I knew you did the sides just look shorter. Yeah, they do.
- [02:30]
James Palmer
I mean, he does have a sign outside that says shorter hair guaranteed. So I knew that was happening. Welcome to Scoop City on a Monday. Presented by ebay. I'm James Palmer. Caleb Williams gets his first win of the season, it's the best we've ever seen. Him, Herbert, Hertz and Baker all still undefeated. Don't forget to like and subscribe. As I mentioned, it's a Monday, so we have our resident quarterback, Chase Daniel with us. We have Diana Rossini, the athletic senior, NFL insider with us. And I, we were talking before the show, Chase. Three of us, we always like to, you know, have a little banter here at the top of the show. But you had a chance calling college games.
- [03:13]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [03:13]
James Palmer
To hang out with Arch Manning for a little while. What did you glean about one of the most talked about, you know, college guys out there right now?
- [03:19]
Chase Daniel
I mean, literally, it was like, going into the week last week, it was all everyone was talking about on talk shows. I mean, the NFL talk shows. We're talking about espn, Fox, everyone. And so it was really cool to just get to get down there in Austin. We were down there. I guess I got in Thursday night or Thursday. I guess Friday morning, like 2:00am Plane travel issues. It was awful. But we met with Sark coach Sarkeesen, we met with Arch. We met with some other players for over an hour. And I think the biggest thing that I took away from Arch, just talking to him, first of all, the dude looks like a freaking NFL. Like, already. Like, I. I knew he was big, but, like, when you get around him, he's got that feel of just like ghost in size. And, like, it feels like a Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, like, standing next to him.
- [04:08]
James Palmer
So is he a dense individual? Very dense.
- [04:11]
Chase Daniel
He's very dense. I was very surprised by that. But I think the biggest thing for him is, like, man, like, I really don't think he was feeling pressure because he's grown up around it. What I do think is he was. And talking to a lot of different people, he was like, it's called paralysis by analysis, James. Right. You're overthinking things. You're trying to be too perfect. And he just came in and told me, he's like, dude, like, I just want to go out there and just freaking let it rip. And five touchdowns later, like, he.
- [04:45]
James Palmer
He did.
- [04:45]
Chase Daniel
Now, I know it was against Sam Houston State, but it was really cool to see that. And it's going to be interesting to see if he can do it, because they have a bye week. Then they go Florida, Oklahoma. But here's the most fascinating story he told me. And really, he was with Michael Taft, who's an all American safety for him.
- [04:58]
Diana Rossini
They're.
- [04:59]
James Palmer
They're.
- [04:59]
Chase Daniel
They're best friends, and they were Doing the interview together. And Michael Taft told me he's. He's like their star safety. He's like, hey, in practice this week, Arch, like, looked me off. We go in one on one. Arch looked me off. He fit a ball between a hook curl defender and a safety, and he, like, layered it. Like, we see, like, Brock Purdy or Herbert over the linebacker between the safety, and I guess it was, like, really good. Like, it was awesome. Throw one of his best throws of, of the year, and Arch goes running down the field and talks to defense and says, I'm back. Like, like, just like, okay, you're back, but like, the confidence and the swagger and everything like that. And then I gotta say one more story. And I know we're getting long, but like, this, this to me, excited me because Arch told me when we were talking separately, he's like, man, when I saw you were doing the, the, the game, like, I got excited. I can just be myself around you. Like, you've. You felt everything, right? And he's like, I shouldn't be telling you this, but when I was in high school, my, My passwords on everything, Twitter and social media and everything, like, that used to be like, NFL quarterbacks. And I, I'd keep them for a year and I'd switch, and I do this. He's like, I got to be honest with you. My junior and senior year, my password was Chase Daniel2. And I was like, what? I said, like, I'm a backup court. He's like, just like, Louisiana. Like, big fan of you. You were a backup quarterback. Like, I followed you in college.
- [06:27]
Diana Rossini
He has the same word as me.
- [06:29]
James Palmer
Oh, yeah.
- [06:29]
Chase Daniel
Okay, that's funny. But, like, I didn't really. I thought that was, like, so interesting. I'm like, dude, like, it's not interesting.
- [06:37]
Diana Rossini
That's.
- [06:38]
Chase Daniel
It's flattering, I guess, because the New Orleans connection, I was there for five years, but I, I, yeah, those are the two stories. I thought it was cool, but I, I, you should.
- [06:48]
Diana Rossini
I think it'll be good when you're in the booth where you're like, you want to know this, quarterback?
- [06:51]
Chase Daniel
I saved that for Scoop City only.
- [06:56]
Diana Rossini
Daniel 2.
- [06:58]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. Yeah, that's.
- [06:59]
James Palmer
That's interesting.
- [07:00]
Diana Rossini
Pound key, exclamation.
- [07:02]
James Palmer
Yeah. The story was worth it. Sorry, Cincinnati Bengals, you're out of the show. Listen, this is what we have coming up. We have Justin Herbert. Is he maybe possibly an MVP candidate? Now he's three. And, oh, Jalen hurts finally starts throwing the football. Chase is going to break down if the passing game is Back in Philadelphia. Also, Caleb Williams is the best we've seen him as an NFL quarterback. Is this sustainable? Will we see some consistency again? I do want to mention this, by the way. Next Monday, the three of us will be live at noon Eastern, a live show, guys, here on Scoop City before a doubleheader on a Monday night game. All right, let's cut to the chase. It's a Monday, we got three quarterbacks we're going to cut to the chase with and we're going to start with Caleb Williams. Chase was texting us on Sunday night. We got to start with Caleb Williams because he goes out and beats his former head coach Chase and Matt Eberfluous. There was talk flu, maybe get a game ball. Doubt he did because The Bears won 31 to 14 and Caleb went bananas. Almost 300 yards passing four touchdowns to four different play players.
- [08:01]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [08:02]
James Palmer
What jumped out at you about Caleb Williams when you watched that performance on Sunday?
- [08:06]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, I mean everything, everything did I, I think of all the things that that offense did well and look, I, I get it. People are like, oh, the Cowboys defense, it sucks. The zone defense, it stinks. Yes, yes, I would agree with that. But you have to still go out.
- [08:22]
James Palmer
There and execute and do it.
- [08:25]
Chase Daniel
And I thought this was his best game as a professional athlete and quite honestly, it wasn't close. The thing that stood out to me was, I believe it was in the second half they had a 19 play drive, 11 straight runs. It was the longest drive in terms of plays and time in the past century for the Chicago Bears. Like the 11 straight runs, it just tells me like Ben Johnson, he's trying to force, not force, but he's trying to create an atmosphere of like competitiveness and like ugliness and just like toughness and, and all this stuff. Right. And especially behind that offensive line. Like I thought they played really well as too. And it's like you get those big hogs going up front on the run game and the past game opens up, but also just the creativity right from Ben Johnson. Obviously everyone saw the flea flicker to my guy, Luther Burden, Missouri and all that stuff. But I just, I thought that for the first time this year, Caleb put four quarters together. The first game he played a good quarter. The second game I thought he played a decent half and then it got out of control this game. And that's something that I, that I think is Bears watching is like you're, you're gaining confidence in each and every game. And the reason why I was like, we got to start with this is because look, the Bears, they got to get better on defense. They got to do. But if they can play like this offensively, where to your point, James? They are consistently getting other guys involved. It's not just Roma Dun, it's not just, you know, Cole Comet, it's not just Swift, it's not just all these other guys. DJ Moore, if they can continue to spread the ball around like that. This was the, the closest version this year that I've seen to what Detroit Lions did to people last year in terms of creativity of offense. And I think that's a good sign.
- [10:15]
James Palmer
For the Bears Chase.
- [10:16]
Diana Rossini
I think teams that are preparing for the Chicago Bears and have been preparing have seen that improvement week by week. And I don't necessarily feel like the city of Chicago feels it. Right. Because at the end of the day they just see losses.
- [10:28]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [10:29]
Diana Rossini
But this is going to get fixed in just the month of September and the growth is, is small. But you start stringing these together and we can get to November and, and maybe have a, a solid Bears team here. Right. Because some of the things that we're seeing Ben Johnson instill in, in Caleb from just even my own eye is he seems more patient in the pocket.
- [10:53]
Chase Daniel
Right.
- [10:53]
Diana Rossini
He's sitting in there a little longer. And look, that's also thanks to that nice protection, the amount of money they spent in improving that. But the fact that he's pass rush. Right.
- [11:02]
Chase Daniel
No Micah Parson.
- [11:03]
Diana Rossini
Oh, that too. That.
- [11:04]
Chase Daniel
No sacks. Ty, you're, you're right. I mean that's big time.
- [11:07]
James Palmer
That's huge.
- [11:07]
Diana Rossini
Right? Good good decision making. His arm strength and geez, we've, we, we. We've talked about Caleb so often on this show about no one's ever questioned the talent. It's. Who can kind of bring this all together and really help him transfer from playing at a college level to being a professional football player.
- [11:24]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [11:24]
Diana Rossini
And this is the closest that we're seeing and the, the. We're still a ways. But yeah, I don't necessarily think that we're hitting the panic button that I think a lot of us are maybe silently doing a bit there because it's like, is this going to work? Is maybe Ben Johnson just a good coordinator? I think this was a nice little coming out party for both of them.
- [11:44]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. And I think what you said on your, in your article, I think it was Sunday, what you're hearing, you hit, you hit on that. And, and that was something that I wanted to look at is like, okay, like how does he react to like it might Feel like the city's imploding around him in Chicago. But like outside those walls, like people I've talked to in the league, other quarterbacks, like, he's not playing that bad. Like he, he's not, he's not doing it. And, and this is going to take some time to build. And, and I'm telling you, if you get hot and you get confident as a quarterback like this past game, even though it's against the Cowboys, like there's some stuff you can build on, it's not always going to be that easy. But if they can understand and they're going to show this today and when they're watching the film, like, look, this is what execution looks like. I don't care who it's against. That's how you build confidence.
- [12:36]
James Palmer
Yeah. You know what jumps out at me? You mentioned that drive chase, which was, I almost feel like it was a little bit of an fu to the former man in charge in Chicago. That's running that defense is you just wanted to just run after run after run after run when you come out.
- [12:49]
Chase Daniel
Of the locker room.
- [12:50]
James Palmer
But also you had explosive plays. You had a four play drive, a one play drive. They scored in a variety of ways. And the other part that really jumps out at me is I think there's a collaboration going on that I'm starting to enjoy here. Like I, I, I did you guys get a chance to see Caleb Williams give Ben Johnson a game ball in the locker room?
- [13:09]
Diana Rossini
Yeah.
- [13:10]
James Palmer
And the emotion that Caleb Williams had and pushing his head coach and the excitement that he had, you know, it seems so genuine. I think there was a really interesting point brought up during the broadcast which was not that Ben Johnson needs to learn, you know, how to do everything that Caleb Williams can and can't do. And it's Ben Johnson understanding that there's some aspects of Caleb Williams that he has to let him go and play. And I thought that was a, that was something that jumped out at me is, you know, he can create. Jared Goff is not a guy that creates off script and has those talents as part of his, you know, arsenal. It's, maybe I should be okay letting him do some of these things. Chase. It kind of reminded me of those early years of Patrick Mahomes. I'm not making a comparison. But Andy let him play. Right. He did run around, he did improvise. But what made Andy great was he still found ways to keep having him grow and play in structure and keep having him grow as a quarterback, but didn't take those Things away from him. And I think Ben learning Caleb in some sense right now is an important aspect of as well.
- [14:08]
Chase Daniel
The worst thing you can do as a young head coach or a head coach in general with a quarterback that is a playmaker with his legs like Mahomes and like Josh Allen and Lamar and. And Caleb just. He likes to do that. You can't take their stinger away. Like, like, yeah, look, you want to be able to sit in the pocket and go through progressions, but at the end of the day, that is what makes Caleb special. That is what really jumped off the screen to me in college is like the way he able to create almost to a fault here. He's going through progression. This stuff's not there. Go out there and create. And the arm strength really jumped out to me as well.
- [14:41]
James Palmer
Oh, you. I think he posted that. He posted that clip of him fading back towards his left and somehow throws it almost all the way to the boundary. Just the arm strength is just bananas. It's nuts. All right, moving on. Jalen hurts. He is now three and oh, this was an interesting start to the season, though, as the Eagles were averaging 119 yards per game through the air. That's the fewest yards per game passing that any team has had, I think since 2010 to be 2. 0. But they were. And that's. They're. They're winning games. But we wanted to see this aspect down the field. Chase was not happening. I believe There were like two completions of more than 10 air yards before this game. But in the second half, you see him hit 7 of 9 for 150 yards and two touchdowns on balls going more than 10 yards through the air. Is this passing offense that we saw in the second half, is it fixed? Is that what we're going to see? Was anything unlocked? And are your worries gone about the Philadelphia Eagles passing game?
- [15:41]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, a lot of great questions there, James. Four of them. There was like four of them there.
- [15:46]
Diana Rossini
Jason, you're going to learn when you take some of those ESPN courses soon, you only supposed to ask one question. Not.
- [15:52]
James Palmer
I think you should have directed that.
- [15:54]
Diana Rossini
Question to me at the NFL Network. We get it. We get it.
- [15:56]
Chase Daniel
Honestly, I can handle it. So fixed. Like, I don't know, like, look, the first half was about as poor a first half as I've seen Jaylen Herz play as a professional quarterback when it comes to throwing the football. And, and I, and I literally, before we got on, I literally just went back through the 67 plays they ran and just. And just Swiped through it. And a couple things stood out to me in the first half. One, obviously, like Lane Johnson getting hurt. Like, that stinks, right? Like 70 and then 79, big 79 comes in and really struggled. And I think the Rams had a lot of success, a lot of success blitzing. Jalen hurts. He got hit a few times in the pocket. And here's the thing about Jalen. Like, he's used to an excellent offensive line, so he's used to being able to hold the ball a little bit longer, and he's used to be able to let these deeper, developing routes develop down the field. And in the first half, that was not happening. Like, like the Rams did a really good job pressuring him. They were an empty. Too much, I thought, in the first half where I know Jalen likes it. But you get. You got pressures coming from this way. You got Lane Johnson hurt, you got a backup tackle in. I thought that game plan was just not great. And then 23 plays in the first half and then 44 in the second half. That's what I've noticed. Not only this game, but with Jalen hurts in the past game, if he gets some early completions in drives, it really gives him confidence as a quarterback to continue to go and push the ball down the field. But I do think that offense, when they bench 79 and went to 74, they started rolling in the second half. And it was the first deep completion to AJ Brown on an amazing deep ball throw. And then the very next play was a touchdown down the middle to the tight end. And that was the confidence they sort of needed. And I think that, like, when they get A.J. brown involved early, good things happen. Like, really good things happen. And they did not get him involved at all in the really first two and a half games of the entire year. And, and I just think, yeah, and I think like when Hertz is throwing the football down the field, when he's throwing the football down the field, that's when he's best because he is accurate down the football field. Now, now, were there some misreads in the first half? Actually, absolutely. He missed two or three wide open guys. Like, it just wasn't clicking for him. But James, it just goes to show you like this Rams team, I think is a really good team and they're going to be playing deep in January. But to turn it around and, and, and the offensive coordinator, Kevin Batula, and Jalen hurts to get on the same page going in the second half and really lean on Jalen's arm that Just shows you, like, the Eagles are still that way. Like, it took him a while last year to get it going. And. And I, like, it's just like any other quarterback a little bit. Like, when you start feeling it, you start playing well. But, man, Jalen just finds freaking play. Like, he just finds ways to win. Like, this is about as poor.
- [18:54]
James Palmer
That's a skill.
- [18:55]
Chase Daniel
His poor effort in the first half that I've ever seen, and he, like, he threw for like 18 yards. All of a sudden it was like something clicked. All right, let's roll. And then they rolled him in the second half. It was unbelievable.
- [19:04]
Diana Rossini
Chase, the Eagles have won 17 straight when Jaylen Herz has started and finished a game. Right? So when he. So when he's out there, they find ways. And. And I, I do think that that was, I don't know, a bunch of different takeaways from watching that game yesterday about the Rams, but for the Eagles specifically, they. They do have that magic this year. They do. They. They. They don't panic at all. They never seen. Panicked. And. And you can say what you want about what the Rams are doing up 26, seven, but the Eagles defense still only kept into some field goals. If. If the Rams score in the red zone there, they're in trouble.
- [19:39]
Chase Daniel
Good.
- [19:39]
James Palmer
Yeah.
- [19:40]
Diana Rossini
Right. So it's like, you go into the half and you're like, all right, is that great? But it could be a lot worse. And so I think that's probably why they can stay so poised, knowing that. All right, it's not horrible. It could. It could be a lot terrible. More terrible. But I, I just think for this team, coming off a Super bowl, still not playing their best game, they still have not played the best version, and they're not supposed to. It's September. I get it. But the fact that they have found ways to win. They're the new Kansas City Chiefs. I just. I just think that's what this team is.
- [20:13]
James Palmer
I do think there is a. I think there is something to that, Diana. There is. Figuring out ways to win games like that and figuring out a way, like, I think you do learn that. And I think good teams know how to do it.
- [20:24]
Chase Daniel
Let me ask you a question. Let me ask you both the question, in fact. Okay, so two years ago, I don't. I don't. I don't know. I'm not going to have this stat.
- [20:33]
James Palmer
Correct.
- [20:33]
Chase Daniel
I know that, but I, I believe they started, what, 100 or 11.
- [20:39]
James Palmer
11 and up.
- [20:40]
Diana Rossini
Correct.
- [20:40]
Chase Daniel
Okay.
- [20:41]
James Palmer
You mean. You mean Philly? I thought you're talking about yes. Philly.
- [20:43]
Chase Daniel
Philly. They started 11, 10 and 11, whatever it is. And then they really struggled down the stretch.
- [20:50]
Diana Rossini
What happened?
- [20:52]
Chase Daniel
What happened? And I. And, and I. It's way too early to say this, but it just, it. It looks like. Remember that they were barely winning games, but they were finding ways to win. And we were like, oh, man, this is Brian Johnson.
- [21:04]
Diana Rossini
This is two years.
- [21:05]
James Palmer
This is two years ago. That's why there's a lot of play callers mixed in here, guys.
- [21:08]
Chase Daniel
Yes. Yeah, I know.
- [21:09]
James Palmer
And every.
- [21:09]
Chase Daniel
Jalen Hurts is still Jalen Hurts. But that was two years ago. Remember how we were like, oh, man. Like, okay, they're. They're finding ways to win. Exactly what you just said. And they're. And they're good. And then they started really struggling down the stretch as teams figured them out. I don't think that's going to happen this year, but I do feel the start of the game and the start of this year, even though they're finding ways to win, they haven't been dominant. And I like that they're finding ways to win. I'm just saying, like, that's what I'm going to keep my eye on the next few weeks is like, two years.
- [21:38]
James Palmer
Ago, you just poo pooed Diana, saying it's like the Chiefs. And that's exactly what the Chiefs did last year. They started 11. And oh, and if you ask anybody in that coaching staff, they were like, brother, be winning these games, brother.
- [21:48]
Chase Daniel
Jalen Hurts is not Patrick Mahomes.
- [21:50]
James Palmer
I didn't say that. No, she said the Kansas City Chiefs. She didn't. She said the Chiefs.
- [21:54]
Chase Daniel
She said the Chiefs are. The Chiefs are because of Patrick Mahomes. Let's make sure that's completely out there. You know what I mean?
- [22:01]
Diana Rossini
Eagles offense, vanilla right now, Barry.
- [22:04]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. Watching them on the game, they have three to four different runs and they're an empty. And then some play action. Pretty vanilla. Yeah.
- [22:10]
James Palmer
Okay.
- [22:11]
Diana Rossini
Does it need to be chocolate for them to be good?
- [22:15]
Chase Daniel
Well, if you don't want to fall behind and rely on. Jalen hurts his arm. I think it needs to be like a mix. Like chocolate vanilla. Right? Like, I think. I think there has to be some more stuff. I think here's what's happening is teams are daring so far this year. Jalen hurts to throw the football down the field. And until the second half of this past game, he has not been good at it. When he's good at it and teams dare them and stack the box to stop Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts in the super bowl when they.
- [22:44]
James Palmer
They'll go to the Super Bowl. They will. No, that happens to.
- [22:47]
Diana Rossini
That's what.
- [22:48]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, 100% and that. But. But I'm just saying that's what it takes for the Philadelphia Eagles this version this year because they're going to every game. They're going to make Jalen hurts, beat him with the arm. They're now Saquon's going to get his yards right, but he ain't getting 2,000 this year. Like, like people are off the bus trying to stop the run. I just think they're just such the better roster and they're the better players and they're just like, especially on defense, like they impose their will and when they're rolling up front, like, it's just hard to beat them. But I do think people stack the box down. Make Jalen beat you with his arm.
- [23:20]
James Palmer
What you said Chase, as I close this out on Jalen before we get to Justin Herbert is exactly right. Making some calls there. It's a Philly. It's this. We've been too conservative and we've been too conservative because we know the defense we have, we know the run game we have and we know like in that Kansas City game last week, one turnover changes the course of the game. So we want to protect the football, play really good defense. And they do feel like when they've self scouted the first two weeks, we've been almost overly conservative. Like we, we. We need to maybe take a couple of little chances. We need to maybe push the ball downfield. And if you ask A.J. brown after the game, what did he say? We got some killers out there. I want to be aggressive. Let's go. But yeah, they, they do see that in the. In themselves that they've been a little too maybe overly conservative. And we've seen that for stretches with Jalen too. We saw at the back end of last year where they relied so heavily on Saquon Barkley.
- [24:08]
Chase Daniel
I just think AJ Such a good player and honestly, like the. My first. I have. I have a page full of notes that I just wrote down after the first, the first note I took out of all those and we didn't even mention it. Devonta Smith is playing. Excellent. Yes, excellent.
- [24:23]
James Palmer
That's a run.
- [24:25]
Diana Rossini
Good things happen for this Eagles team. Always.
- [24:27]
James Palmer
Very much so.
- [24:29]
Diana Rossini
Guys, I'm sure you guys have seen them. They've been alive for years, but I've enjoyed the locker room cheering and the tunnel interactions more than ever. And I know there's no cameras down There. But like, I'm just seeing all these different angles of Howie Roseman and A.J. i'm just. Everyone's rolling. It doesn't matter if you're a fan, if you're working for the network, whatever. And they're, they're everywhere. So it's. There are teams that I don't know how I feel about them and I wind up liking them more after I see these videos because I'm like, oh, that's awesome.
- [24:59]
James Palmer
Jumping in the tunnel. Way to get that John Clark. Johnny Airport Johnny. Justin Herbert is three and oh, I think he might be working his way into this MVP conversation. I don't know if they win two of these three games. Chase last year or maybe the year before. If you look at the way Herbert feels different in year two with Harbaugh, it just seems like those close games always got away from them. And now you see almost a closer mentality from Justin Herbert. Two final drives by him. The touchdown pass you can get to at teen and Allen was absurd. It was just nothing. He goes 4 for 4 in the final drive to get them into field goal range to win it. What are you seeing from Herbert? You know him so well. Is there a different look in that eye? Is there a different player? We've seen with what Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh are asking him to do and he's kind of following through so far.
- [25:49]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, look, they're the, they're letting, they're unleashing Justin Herbert. He's thrown for 860 yards, six touchdowns and interceptions in three games this year. No more important fact of the matter is that they are three and oh with three division wins. And in, in those games they've needed Justin Herbert to play well latent games and he has done that. And I think that was be maybe the one thing that you could say in Justin Herbert's career not always playing well when the game's on the line. And to ask your. To answer your question about, hey, is. Is Justin Herbert different? Even my wife. Okay, who knows? Who knows them? We, she, she, she didn't even care about the game. She said, hey, did you see Justin Herbert's tunnel entrance? He's like actually wearing jeans and like a, like a cool like T shirt. He's not like in Nike stuff and stuff like what's happened? I'm like, I don't know. I guess he got a famous girlfriend, right? Like all that stuff. But like even she's from Oregon, I would assume a lot of Nike stuff. It is, it's refreshing. He's got, he's got that like, sort of fu tattooed on his head. Like, it just, he just doesn't, he just doesn't care. Like the Honey Badger don't care. And he does have a look in his eye, but he's. You can have all that stuff, James and Diana, but if you don't go out there and play and do it. And the way he's doing it is just impressive. Like, it's just like he's putting the team on his back and saying, let's freaking go.
- [27:19]
Diana Rossini
Is that what it is? Like, is that. How much is this a trust factor when you're playing that position? Because he seems like he's just willing to throw it now. Whereas last year there were a couple times we were criticizing his hesitation.
- [27:31]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. And last. And I would think that would be from the receiver room last year. A lot of unproven commodities last year. This year, you look the way Q. Johnston has been playing, he's been playing excellent. Lad McConkey and then Keenan Allen. Like Keenan Allen, I think it's one of the more underrated receiver rooms. I'm not going to say, you know, great, but like, it's one of the more underrated receiver rooms. With Justin almost averaging 300 yards a game. They really don't have a tight end that they throw to. The, they, they were throwing to a guy in his first NFL game and then, you know, running back, a Martin Hampton rookie. I mean, and they lost their, their tackle at the beginning of the year. I mean, a lot of injuries even. And they're still rolling, they're still finding ways to win. And that def. Defense is still really good. And it just, it just feels like I don't want to go so far out on a limb, but it feels like they're a top three to four team in the NFL right now. Like, like just the way they're built. And then that's not being hyperbolic. That's just like what I see on film and what I see on tape. And the way Justin Herbert's playing like a top five quarterback in the league right now. All this stuff's working for the Chargers.
- [28:36]
James Palmer
You know, I, I what me? One of the most entertaining things we're seeing this NFL season is Greg Roman changing his stripes and being aggressive down the field and playing to the strengths that you're saying, Chase. Because they can attack you with their receiver room now, Diana, on all three levels. Quentin Johnston can take you deep. Lad McConkey is a slot merchant, as people say.
- [28:57]
Chase Daniel
Right.
- [28:57]
James Palmer
And he was their Passing offense. Last year was their passing offense as a rookie and now you can go to three different options in the passing game and spread teams out and beat them on all three levels. I just think what Greg Roman's doing and they've encouraged him to run more. I just, they've changed the way they've run an offense, these two, and they're doing it for Justin Herbert. And I think Diana, it's been just awesome, awesome to see Greg Roman kind of go out and do this.
- [29:24]
Diana Rossini
And we're always criticizing coordinators and head coaches for not adjusting to the players being so egomaniacal and forcing the way that they want to play the game. And now it seems Greg Roman after all these years is recognizing. And I don't know if he came up with this on his own, if he had his own come to Jesus on it of just, hey, we've got a killer quarterback here. So I just think you combine these two things with a defense that does a, a good amount, a good amount of just movement. They're always moving around, doing different things, showing you different things. I think you combine these two things. I don't want to spend too much time, but I feel like we have to do it because we spend so much of our summer talking about Denver guys. Just what do you, what are you feeling?
- [30:08]
James Palmer
It's the exact opposite. I think Chase and I want your opinion because you know Sean so well. It's the exact opposite of what we were just saying about Justin Herbert. He has a look in his eye to close out games. They haven't closed out one score games last year and they haven't done it this year. And I think that's one of those things we talked about it with, you know, Jalen hurts and the Chiefs as well that you good teams know how to win. I feel like in some of these aspects they're learning late in games how to win. And man, Bo Nicks had a couple of deep shots that. Yeah, all of them just a hair out of reach.
- [30:41]
Chase Daniel
Look, if, if you're, if you're Broncos fans, like, yeah, like you're. I'm not too worried. Like I really think this is a good team. You're upset. I'm not worried because they really should have freaking won against Indy. Like let's be real. Okay. And, and honestly versus what we think or I think is a top three or four team in the NFL. You took them down to the fourth quarter and Justin Herbert had to have a game winning drive against the strength of your defense. Right. I get that. However, There were plays to be made in the passing game and you missed it by a couple inches. You hit one of those. The game is completely different. Now. I'm not saying this is a win, you know, mentally, but like it's going to come and I do think it's going to make them better down the stretch. I still think they're a playoff team. There's a really difficult division. And I do think that like these early season, I mean they, they could sit here being what they, they could, they could be 3, 0, like the way they play. They played like a 3, 0 team. Now. They played some really good like this. This Chargers team is good and you got to figure out ways to win. But like I'm not, I'm not worried about it. Yeah.
- [31:44]
James Palmer
And you made four big off season acquisitions in the free agency. Two of them are already having injury issues. Is Dre Greenlaw on iron. Ingram didn't suit up for this one. Dobbins has been good. Fungus been good.
- [31:55]
Diana Rossini
Yeah.
- [31:55]
James Palmer
But the other two haven't been able to really contribute much. All right, coming up next on Scoop City, presented by ebay Sunday scaries. And it might have been Russell Wilson inside the red zone. Is it time for Jackson dart chase? I've never heard him bring it up before. We'll get his take. And also J.J. mcCarthy and Carson Wentz. What's happening in the quarterback room in Minnesota next on Scoop City. You saw that play when your quarterback dropped back, looked off the safety and threw a dime deep for the go ahead touchdown. Well, that's not just hall worthy, that's wall worthy. And you can own a piece of it when you shop the unrivaled selection of trading cards and memorabilia on ebay, the home of collectibles since 1995. Huddle up with the 132 million users around the world to find that rookie autograph you can't find anywhere else. Premium trading cards, singles and sealed boxes. Unreal. Live card breaks. Truly unique game use memorabilia. All the epic finds you need are right here on eBay. Plus with the eBay authenticity guarantee for trading cards, you know what you buy is the real deal. Collect with confidence by downloading the ebay app on the app store or by going straight to eBay.com TheAthletic that's right, your collection journey kicks off right here, right now@ebay.com come through and collect with us today only.
- [33:20]
Diana Rossini
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- [33:21]
Chase Daniel
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James Palmer
New 5G phone.
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Chase Daniel
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James Palmer
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Chase Daniel
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James Palmer
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- [34:35]
Chase Daniel
Chase Daniel they play the Chargers next week?
- [34:38]
James Palmer
Yes, they do.
- [34:39]
Diana Rossini
And then the Saints.
- [34:40]
James Palmer
That's a tough secondary for your first NFL start.
- [34:43]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, look, I, I don't know. I mean personally, I think, I think the time was now, I think the time was like a couple weeks ago. But like, honestly, like, look, Russell Wilson, week one, he threw for 450.
- [34:57]
Diana Rossini
We're not that deep in.
- [34:58]
Chase Daniel
I know, but like I, you know how I feel about the dude.
- [35:01]
Diana Rossini
Like, like they're not winning games with Russ.
- [35:04]
Chase Daniel
And even the broadcast last night, if you watched and listened with, you know, keen sense of hearing, you heard Collinsworth say, like, hey, there's a lot of excitement within the Giants building about Jackson Dart.
- [35:20]
James Palmer
Did he say like that or did he go or did he go.
- [35:24]
Chase Daniel
There's a lot of excitement about Jack. He said exactly like that. Okay. And look, I understand he's a rookie. I understand that you thought Russ would give you the best chance to win and, and rightfully so, probably. They haven't won. They haven't won. So like, I get it, like you probably don't want to throw them to the wolves this week, but by the Saints game he's starting and I'll win that bet because Halloween's still not for another month and a half. I, I, I just think that what, what Jackson can give you is the up tempo offense that, that we saw in, in the preseason with Brian Dable. I think that he can give A little bit of hope. If he goes out there and plays well, I think you get, you get, dude, you get Cam Scatter, Boo and Jackson Dart rolling back there like two rookies. And if you. My, My whole thing is, like, if you can show some hope to Giants fans, maybe you keep your job. Right now, if they keep losing, they're losing their jobs.
- [36:20]
James Palmer
Like one man you're trying to show hope to. I think.
- [36:22]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. And I think that. I think that at the end of the day, it's just like when they're chanting when your home crowd is chanting, we want Dart. Like when I. Like, I thought Russell played really well two weeks ago against Dallas, and I thought he played really poorly this week. No, none other than that four play sequence in the red zone when they're down two scores and they get called for intentional grounding. And then on fourth down, he throws it through the uprights. He throws it through the uprights on fourth down. And look, I get it. Like, I don't want to criticize too much because that position is. Is hard to play. I just. What is the point, Diana, in continuing with Russell Wilson? Because I, I don't see it.
- [37:04]
Diana Rossini
I think it has less to do about Russell, more to do with Jackson Dart. Not because they don't think he's ready. I just think that they want to give him the right situation and the right game. And we have heard over and over the excitement. And truthfully, I just think the more we don't see him, the more the hype builds and the more we're expecting him to be a certain level and a certain caliber of player. Because just by them keeping this so mysterious, I almost feel like it's unfair to him. Like we're going to expect him to come out and play like Justin Herbert did in his first game where we were blown away. Look, I hope that's the case for them. I hope this he. They unleash him and we all go, why didn't they play him from week one like we do with Drake May in New England? Remember when they did that? So, look, this could be it. I mean, if you're Brian Diable and you're Joe Shane and you're looking at your offense and you're looking at what Daniel Jones is doing. No. And you're looking at the fact that the deep. Look, look what happened with Pittsburgh last year. Russell gave you a little bit of an opportunity, a little bit of chance, and then the defenses smartened up again and was like, all right, we'll just shut down the moon Ball and then game over, right? And it just. They didn't. They weren't able to do anything. And I think we're there already. I think we hit it. I think we hit the max with Russ. It's just going to be a matter of what they think is best in terms of protecting the young kid and, and the best scenario.
- [38:30]
James Palmer
Why, though?
- [38:30]
Chase Daniel
Like, protect the young kid? Look, you're not winning. You're not winning. And, and look, and this is. I'm. I'm going to just calm down.
- [38:39]
James Palmer
No, don't calm down here.
- [38:41]
Chase Daniel
Well, here's the thing. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. You cannot get better in this league as a rookie quarterback in practice. You cannot get better in this league in the film room. You cannot get better in this league in the preseason as a rookie. You cannot get better in the league as anything else other than playing real live football games that matter. You have to throw him in the fire and see how he reacts. He seems like he's a really confident young kid, and if you think he's that fragile where if a loss or something like that is going to hurt you, you should never draft in the first place. It's New York.
- [39:20]
James Palmer
It's New York. That's a good New York.
- [39:22]
Chase Daniel
Like, like, like why I get what you're saying and I get more so with the Giants. You got to play the guy, but, like, what are we doing here, James? Yeah, I.
- [39:33]
James Palmer
What confuses me is I do believe. Jay, that was a great point about the market. Size actually does matter. Where you go is actually a big part of. Of the evaluation of certain teams. It is. It is on the board in New York, to my understanding. We play in New York. Can they handle it? It was a big part of their evaluation. Malik, neighbors, in all honesty, and how he's made up and how he can play in New York. And so I think he did check those boxes. I think he has checked some. What confuses me is you put him in last night again for a play and you keep kind of doing these little things where you just. Are you teasing all of us, Brian Dable, Is this all part of some sort of plan? That's what I think it is. He has some sort of plan about why he's. This if he doesn't. It seems very bizarre. And so when we keep seeing him pop in for a play or two, we're, well, he's not ready. Well, he came in. He played in the game. We'll play him more. It's very, very fascinating to see and listen, we've seen some players start their careers very, very successfully and then we've seen them hit some lulls. I'm talking about a one Mr. Carson Wentz. And we saw Carson Wentz go out there and get himself a win for the team he grew up rooting for. I don't know if anybody's mentioned that yet. And Bins was Binsmark, North Dakota, rooting for the purple and gold Chase. What did you see from, from Carson Wentz? Because I think this is one of the more interesting quarterbacks, an interesting quarterback careers we've seen in recent memory, from being a number two overall pick to borderline mvp, front runner, to tearing the acl. The team wins the super bowl without him. It's, it's. He's played now. Started six team, six years. Were you excited to see him play on Sunday?
- [41:09]
Chase Daniel
Sure, yeah. Yeah. I mean, remember, I was with him. I'm not sold on that. Well, I was with him as a rookie, when he was a rookie in 20, I guess 16. And then I backed him up and thought, you know, he, he had a really good first year. I thought for the most part, and then 17 until that Rams game, he was MVP. I mean, he would have won the MVP, I mean, if things would have kept going. But yeah, it's just, he was sort of on the street. Right. And it's just another one of the Kevin o'. Connells. Like, hey, man, I'm really good at coaching quarterbacks. Like, you know, we can sort of plug and play. I'm the new Kyle Shanahan. You know what I mean? Like, I, I did thought, I, I thought that the game plan was really good for, for a young. Sorry, for a inexperienced quarterback who just got there, who wasn't there in training camp. A lot of short passes, a lot of this, a lot of that. And I thought Carson was really accurate with that. And I thought, hey, if, if. I mean, look at, look at the, look at the cast around them. Like, like it's awesome.
- [42:03]
Diana Rossini
You mean the thief mans.
- [42:04]
Chase Daniel
Well, that too. But just look at offensively. I'm not going to get the D.J. look at offensively. Like it's, it's freaking loaded. They went in and secured the offensive line early and then, and then you get two touchdowns, you know, from the defense, from the same guy. Like, it's, it's good. I still think that, you know, JJ is still like obviously their guy, but I did, I was excited for Carson and I, and I don't know if you guys saw it, but Carson posted A picture on Instagram a couple hours ago and it was of him and his family cuddled, praying like before on the sideline and like some action pictures. And he was like, hey, like, I can't believe like I was able to root for these guys growing up and then go out there and get a win. I just thought that like humanized him a little bit. Right? Like, he's just like really taken in. Like, hey, I'm not taking this for granted and I'm not saying he has in the past, but I just think like that full circle, like 16, six years, there's been a lot of unrest. I just think like from mentally for him, it was just like, man, that was an awesome moment to see Diana.
- [42:59]
James Palmer
Could he stay in this job? Is that possible? In.
- [43:03]
Diana Rossini
In as if J.J. mcCarthy's healthy, comes back, can he stay?
- [43:08]
James Palmer
Say J.J. misses three games. No.
- [43:11]
Chase Daniel
Okay.
- [43:13]
Diana Rossini
Right now, I guess you should never say no when you're in the NFL, right? I shouldn't be so stubborn there.
- [43:19]
Chase Daniel
They didn't sign legit hall of Fame quarterbacks in the off season. You stop it right now. Quarterback.
- [43:29]
Diana Rossini
No, yeah, I didn't say it, J. James.
- [43:31]
James Palmer
I just asked the question.
- [43:33]
Diana Rossini
Here's what I knew just headed into that game too. It just, he had such a great week of practice and you know, look, the, the Minnesota Vikings organization does a really good job of getting their quarterbacks ready, obviously. But also just from a confidence factor, they, they were not sweating this at all. And I, I know they weren't playing against this amazing Bengals defense, but usually you, you get a, a little feel when you talk to people there that, ah, we'll see how this go. I didn't get any of that.
- [44:02]
Chase Daniel
Why weren't they sweating it?
- [44:05]
Diana Rossini
I think Carson was able to run the offense because he played with Sean McVeigh and Kevin OConnell felt comfortable with him and just popping him in there like. And I also think Kevin OConnell's got confidence in his game calling ability.
- [44:18]
James Palmer
I think Kevin likes what he did.
- [44:19]
Chase Daniel
With Josh Dobbs last year.
- [44:23]
Diana Rossini
Off the plane and was just like, this is what you do. He's like drawing on his finger. Yeah, look, and it doesn't help that your defense is ridiculous, is coming up with turnovers like they're, that's how you're going to win. And that's really what, what nine non offensive touchdowns we saw over the weekend. I mean that was turnovers, explosive plays. I feel like that was just the story of, of the weekend. Anyway, so Minnesota headed to Dublin.
- [44:48]
James Palmer
Oh, there you go.
- [44:50]
Diana Rossini
That wasn't right.
- [44:50]
James Palmer
No. Try it again.
- [44:51]
Chase Daniel
Is that an Irish accent?
- [44:54]
Diana Rossini
They're going to have steak and beer.
- [44:58]
Chase Daniel
Well, that's bad.
- [44:59]
Diana Rossini
Are you.
- [44:59]
Chase Daniel
You were in your Dublin like sweater vest. What is that? Like a houndstooth? Oh, I feel like you get away with that in Dublin.
- [45:06]
Diana Rossini
Is houndstooth Irish?
- [45:10]
James Palmer
We got a really good summer.
- [45:12]
Chase Daniel
By the second it was green maybe.
- [45:14]
Diana Rossini
Okay, I'll wear it next week.
- [45:16]
James Palmer
Well, the reason I asked the question and I know it's not going to happen, I don't think is it's been an interesting three years now that. That Carson Wentz has been through in quarterback rehab mode. He goes to a year with Sean McVeigh, then a year with Andy Reid, now a year with Kevin o'. Connell. I think you've probably learned a boatload. And if you ask anybody and Chase, you back him up for a year. Carson's always been kind of his own wor enemy in terms of how some of these things have gone down in the course of his career. But it'll be interesting to see what he can do or how many weeks he gets there with Kevin. Ok.
- [45:46]
Chase Daniel
I think these challenges with jj. Is he back or what? What's the deal?
- [45:50]
Diana Rossini
So he obviously is still dealing with that ankle injury. He's. He wasn't wearing a boot. Do you notice that on the sideline? He didn't have a boot on, which I guess that's good. He's going to travel with the team, so he'll be over there. But they're still saying four weeks. So we still have some time.
- [46:04]
Chase Daniel
Four weeks. I guess they didn't put.
- [46:08]
James Palmer
They remember, but remember they did not. But they did not put them on ir, Right, Diana? So there is a chance that they believe it could be three, it could be two, whatever it is. Yeah. But it's. It's legitimate, so we'll see what. What the Wentz man can do.
- [46:20]
Diana Rossini
Look at Chase. Chase is like, there's gotta be more.
- [46:23]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, yeah. I don't believe that, but okay, okay.
- [46:26]
James Palmer
You know who's three? Who else is three? And oh. As we continue the Sunday scaries. Guys, it's a one. Baker Mayfield Sunday. Scary.
- [46:33]
Chase Daniel
She's always feeling dangerous.
- [46:34]
James Palmer
Here we go. Baker Mayfield and the Bucks have taken the lead with 59 seconds to go, six seconds to go and zero seconds to go in the course of this three game stretch to start the season. Just remarkable. First, is there anybody more fun to watch play Baker, especially in these two minute drills? But what's working for him in. In Tampa right now? Because they have Injuries on the line at the receiver position. Hopefully they get Chris Godwin back next week.
- [47:05]
Diana Rossini
The fact that he wanted to beat his former coach who cut him, like just the fact revealed that in the post game is amazing. But here's what I love about Bigger. It's like most athletes don't want to put that out there because they don't want to think that you're either petty or that you care that much or some just don't want to.
- [47:24]
James Palmer
What's the show?
- [47:25]
Diana Rossini
Love. Admit it, right, that, like, yeah, I'm pissed. Steve Wilkes, the defensive coordinator of the New York jets, caught me when he was the head coach of the Panthers. And I never forgot that. He just put it out there. Like I, I love that.
- [47:38]
Chase Daniel
I think that's, that I think he's very, he's so far past any of like caring because like first of all, he's, he's made money, he's, he's like revitalized his career. He's a top 10 quarterback. The way he's playing right now, like the bucks are 3, 0, they're back to back division title winners. Like all this stuff, he's just like, you know what, I'm human. Like, yeah, of course. Like every quarterback would want to beat their old coach. I think the thing with, with Baker is just, it doesn't always. Like their wins haven't looked pretty. They're not firing on all cylinders yet. There's been a lot of people hurt. Yeah, they find a freaking way to win the game. And that just. And we talked about it a lot, maybe last week, but it's just like between the ears. Like, yes, he's fun to watch, he's running around, but between the ears, to be that mentally tough and that mentally strong and to be with different coordinators almost every year of your career and just continue to get consistent results like that. To me, like anyone can go break down what he does on the field. It's just the mental part of the game that he is just like. And he's been this way and he's been this way all of his career. He's been cocky. And I like that you have to be like this, this utmost confidence in your ability to just deliver. And it's just like, it is literally what teams practice the most. They practice two minute drills consistently and constantly. And the games always come down to something in two minutes. And he's just been, he's been perfect at it this year. He really has.
- [49:12]
Diana Rossini
Someone there described him as Clint Eastwood. And I was like, well, I don't know if that works for me because I'm not sure what that means. What does that mean?
- [49:20]
James Palmer
I mean, Eastwood like to be challenged in a lot of those movies, right? Try to prove him wrong. He's got you.
- [49:26]
Diana Rossini
I think we can just find a 2025 comp there now.
- [49:28]
James Palmer
Chip on his shoulder.
- [49:30]
Diana Rossini
Could try one. Anyone who's.
- [49:32]
Chase Daniel
Who's going to be it?
- [49:33]
Diana Rossini
Who's Baker in terms of the movies, which actor is Baker? And.
- [49:38]
Chase Daniel
Oh, we interviewed Glenn Powell on our game in Texas. What's he like from Texas? Really nice guy, actually. Top Gun Maverick.
- [49:48]
Diana Rossini
I look a dude. Beautiful look. I think the fact that they got.
- [49:52]
James Palmer
Liam Neeson in a text message right now. Diana. Always looking for revenge. Liam Neeson.
- [49:56]
Diana Rossini
Not a bad one. Not a bad one. I watched that one with his daughter. What was it? I watch that one every time it's on.
- [50:04]
James Palmer
I love it.
- [50:04]
Diana Rossini
Yeah, right. Hard under the bed.
- [50:06]
James Palmer
They keep getting taken.
- [50:07]
Diana Rossini
It's like they're going to take you.
- [50:10]
Chase Daniel
The particular set of skills, not Liam Neeson's voice at all.
- [50:14]
James Palmer
Your impressions are on fire today. Keep going.
- [50:17]
Diana Rossini
The Bucks are really patient with the run. I think their screen game is probably the best in football.
- [50:22]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, right.
- [50:23]
James Palmer
Like I said, Laura, scump, accent. Go.
- [50:28]
Diana Rossini
I just think if they get healthy, they're going to be a playoff team because you look at that division and I don't really see that much competition.
- [50:35]
Chase Daniel
You know, they're gonna run away with the division.
- [50:38]
James Palmer
Oh, my God. I like the. Chase just commented. They're gonna run away with the division. Just saying that. That was a forest Gump. Accent was tremendous. Just dynamite.
- [50:48]
Chase Daniel
Did you see how I got that? That was. Yeah. For picking that up.
- [50:50]
Diana Rossini
Right. Why isn't Aaron Glenn calling the defenses for the jets, by the way? Quick, quick note. Just something in the Bucks game. Remember I said this to you guys in the off season. I was like, guys, I. I've talked to some people who are worried that Aaron Glenn's strength as a defensive coordinator calling the shots there in Detroit. He was so good at it. And look, he stepped into the head coaching role and passed that to Steve Wilkes. I get it. But it's like you're taking away your secret sauce in a way. There was just something I was thinking.
- [51:17]
Chase Daniel
I was talking to 03. Then you'll take it back.
- [51:21]
Diana Rossini
Nice little thing to dig on. Thank you, Chase. Here's what I'm hearing on Saturday.
- [51:24]
Chase Daniel
I'm digging.
- [51:25]
James Palmer
Diana. Listen, I'll wrap up this Baker Mayfield chat with this. What's the term? What a long, strange trip it's been, I believe, is the term. He starts as a number one pick in Cleveland. I remember covering a game there early on. I still think about this all the time. I'm talking to Joe woods, their defensive coordinator, and Baker walks by to go into the locker room, and he was questionable to play on this Thursday night. And he just turns and Len back and looks at me and goes, I would be in a foxhole with that dude 365 days out of the year.
- [51:50]
Chase Daniel
That's how.
- [51:52]
James Palmer
Just an absolute gamer in the way he works. And this is what I want to have happen. It's time for Baker to get his due, because what has happened with his last two offensive coordinators, it was, whoa, what did Dave Canales do with Baker? Mayfield? Let's get him a job. Let's get him to Carolina. He can do that with our quarterback. And then Liam Cohen, what a great job he did with Baker. If he can do that with Baker, let's get him with Trevor Lawrence and let's grab him. Why don't we flip it and say Baker got both those guys jobs? How about that? How about instead of the other way around, it's that way around because Baker played really, really well, and now Baker's doing it with a third different offensive coordinator in three years. So I'd like to give Baker a little bit of credit for what's gone on in Tampa as opposed to the. The opposite way.
- [52:40]
Diana Rossini
I think we give them an early MVP nod. I think. I think we go early.
- [52:44]
Chase Daniel
My tweet last night.
- [52:45]
James Palmer
That's spicy.
- [52:46]
Diana Rossini
No. Did you tweet that?
- [52:47]
Chase Daniel
Yes, I did.
- [52:48]
Diana Rossini
I'm sorry I turned your alerts off because lately they've been a little hot, so I've had to tone you down.
- [52:56]
Chase Daniel
The fact. The fact that you're muted.
- [52:57]
James Palmer
Chase.
- [53:01]
Chase Daniel
You guys are missing the whole point of this. The fact that you had alerts set for me.
- [53:06]
Diana Rossini
It's called when you love your team. You are supposed to be almost an expert on them.
- [53:12]
Chase Daniel
I've never had.
- [53:13]
Diana Rossini
Right. That's why my passwords. Chase, Daniel, you go.
- [53:15]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. Go through. Yeah. What has been hot on the tweet? Twitter. Tweet.
- [53:19]
James Palmer
Tweet.
- [53:20]
Diana Rossini
Tweet. Tweet.
- [53:21]
Chase Daniel
Yeah. What has been so bad, Diana? Tell me.
- [53:24]
Diana Rossini
Oh, no, I. I appreciate it. I just want your thoughts to be original on the show.
- [53:30]
Chase Daniel
I like it.
- [53:30]
Diana Rossini
Like, I don't want to know what you're going to say, so I'm like.
- [53:32]
James Palmer
Oh, you want the natural.
- [53:33]
Diana Rossini
I don't want to consume him.
- [53:35]
James Palmer
Natural reaction.
- [53:36]
Chase Daniel
Well, we didn't talk about the Chiefs and I had a lot of stuff to say about the Chiefs so that's why that was original.
- [53:40]
James Palmer
Yep.
- [53:40]
Diana Rossini
That's always a guarantee on Scoop City.
- [53:43]
James Palmer
That's why I muted cheating. That's why I muted Chase. Okay, wrapping up Scoop City on a moment. We are going to talk about Daniel Jones and the Colts. Chase is going to tell us if this is sustainable and it's real. And guess what, Kyle Shanahan am it's all the injuries. Still has his team with two division wins and three and oh, let's see what happens with both of these teams. Our opinions coming up next on Scoop City. You saw that play when your quarterback dropped back, looked off the safety and threw a dime deep for the go ahead touchdown. Well, that's not just hall worthy, that's wall worthy and you can own a piece of it when you shop the unrivaled selection of trading cards and memorabilia on ebay, the home of collectibles since 1995. Huddle up with 132 million users around the world to find that rookie autograph you can't find anywhere else. Premium trading cards, singles and sealed boxes. Unreal live card breaks, truly unique game use memorabilia. All the epic finds you need are right here on eBay. Plus, with the eBay authenticity guarantee for trading cards, you know what you buy is the real deal. Collect with confidence by downloading the ebay app on the App store or by going straight to eBay.com TheAthletic that's right, your collection journey kicks off right here, right now@ebay.com theathletic come through and collect with us today. When you're a forward thinker, you don't just bring your A game, you bring your AI game. Workday is the AI platform that transforms the way you manage your people, money and agents so you can transform tomorrow, moving business forever forward.
- [55:25]
Chase Daniel
Three men, three murders, one killer who.
- [55:29]
James Palmer
Simply vanished 30 years later, crime Adjacent.
- [55:33]
Chase Daniel
Host Chase Patrick returns to Ridgewood to uncover how the nation's most prolific serial.
- [55:39]
James Palmer
Killer went undiscovered and why he started.
- [55:42]
Chase Daniel
Killing again in 2023.
- [55:45]
James Palmer
Crime adjacent is the never ending true.
- [55:47]
Chase Daniel
Crime story told weekly.
- [55:49]
James Palmer
Listen to Crime Adjacent wherever you listen to podcasts. Scoop City on a Monday presented by ebay as we close things out. James Palmer Chase, Daniel, Diana Rossini with you. And we talked about a couple of these three and O teams. They have star quarterbacks. Well, the oppos Colts are 3 0. Do they have a legitimate quarterback in Daniel Jones? Shane Steichen has him playing really, really well. Chase, is there an aspect of this offense or this team that has jumped out of you? Yes. They have not played the. The NFL's most difficult teams in two of their first three games, but, yeah, impressive somewhat, right?
- [56:28]
Chase Daniel
Yeah, no, definitely impressive. I mean, look, the most impressive thing. They only have one punt and three guys. They've only punted stealing money one time. They're averaging 34 points per game, second in the NFL, and they're averaging 418 yards a game, second in the NFL, AND zero turnovers. One of only three teams. Like, you just put those. Forget about who you play. I don't care about who you play. You put up stats like that and you watch and. And they have some playmakers, and. And it's just. It feels to me that. And I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it feels to me like Shane Steichen finally has a quarterback that he trusts to run his scheme. Exactly. Now he wants it. Now, the competition hasn't been the best. Right. I get it, but, man, they're. They're freaking moving the ball offensively like that. That's probably been the biggest surprise, I. I'd say, of the entire year of any team is just like, hey, like, when Daniel Jones signed, we were like, okay, there's gonna be a competition. Daniel Jones won't even promise a starting job. Who's gonna win? Yeah, Daniel Jones, it was skewing your way. But, like, Anthony Richardson, like, he's like, I haven't heard nothing about him. He's just an afterthought now. Like, you draft him four overall, and then he's gone. And then Daniel Jones has this, like, career where he's like. It's like, way better than he was at the Giants, but then he's taken some of the Giant stuff with his run ability. It's just. It's impressive to watch. And the fact is, like, when you can sustain drives like the Indianapolis Colts can, and you don't punt the football way, you don't put your football team defensively on the field a lot, it just. They get to rest, and they're getting better three now, and they haven't been perfect in all this stuff, but, like, I just thought. I just thought the win. The win this week was good. Yeah. Okay. Right. They were. I thought they were gonna beat the title. The win last week, though, and we didn't really reverse the Broncos and a team that I think really highly of, like, that's a confidence booster. That's a confidence builder, and to score a lot of points on that defense. It's just, it feels like the only.
- [58:27]
Diana Rossini
Think about what that's like for Daniel Jones. Yeah, I am.
- [58:31]
James Palmer
Okay.
- [58:31]
Diana Rossini
Think about what that's like for Daniel Jones. Right? Just like what he went through and he was taken through the ringer in New York, right. Like, it was not an easy road for him here. And I, I don't know where his mental space was. I don't know what his confidence level was when he got to Minnesota. I know that they did tons of rehabbing of him from just day. Look, you can still play. And, And I think he. I think that stop really helped him. I don't know if it took him over the edge to be like, okay, you're great. But all of this is just going to continue to add to what I think could be the best version of version we haven't even seen of Daniel Jones. And it's so hard to see that and not kind of have a little voice in our head that goes, come on, it's Daniel Jones, right? But if he's got the right coaches, family's not watching protection, he's got the Jonathan Taylor in this who is in my opinion, one of the more underrated players this season.
- [59:29]
James Palmer
Talk about it.
- [59:30]
Diana Rossini
I mean, we all know how good he is, but this is the best version of Jonathan Taylor we've seen. He's healthy.
- [59:34]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [59:34]
Diana Rossini
He reminds me of Saquon Barkley from, from. From. You know, seeing Daniel Jones out there. He knows how to deal with a run game like that. He needs a run game like that. So all of this is adding up on top of the fact that you have a defense led by Luana Ruma. Right. Like there. There's a lot of good coming out of Indy for, For a team that really could have quite the story after obviously losing their owner and the fact that. Could you imagine if Jim Merce was around seeing his team three and oh, right now, like that's what I was thinking about yesterday. It's. It's sad. But also, you know, maybe. Maybe he's got a little something to do with it up there.
- [60:05]
James Palmer
They got the patch on the jersey and they're playing hard for him. Listen, you're right with, with Jonathan Taylor and if you talk to people there, they'll tell you the pass protection has gone to another level this year and that helps Daniel Jones, that's been a big part of his continued growth as one of the better backs that nobody talks about in this league. He had 103 yards in this game and three touchdowns.
- [60:23]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [60:24]
James Palmer
But I think Jason, to me, and I want to ask you this is everybody knows the role in this offense, right? Michael Pittman knows he's the big body outside receiver. Alec Pierce knows he's the deep threat. Josh Downs knows he's the slot guy. And everybody knows what they do in this offense around Daniel Jones. But now you throw the rookie in, in Tyler Warren who lines up everywhere and has been outstanding from the jump. They had plays, I'm told, designed for last Sunday specifically to have him blocking because they love how physical he is. They had some ISO stuff with him in front. How does that type of player change in offense? Have you seen him take this offense to another level? He is a rookie, but he has done so much so quickly in making things difficult on defenses.
- [61:09]
Chase Daniel
I think you hit it. I think the way he moves around the field at all different positions and it's just harder for defenses to key in on him. Right. And when you have a guy that can block and you have a guy that can do all this stuff, you don't really have to take him off the field. Right. You don't want to overload him. But when you're on the field and, and I know this is like day one stuff, but like, if Sussman opened downfield, he's your safety blanket. And the way he is with the ball in his hands after he catches, like, it's impressive. Like, he's got that wiggle similar to Travis Kelsey, like, way early in his career, but he just finds a way to get open. And I mean, like, I always knew, like when I played, like, if. If I am not feeling good about my matchups outside, like, I really like a tight end on a linebacker, like every down, like, if you have a guy that can win, like, I feel really comfortable and I think Daniel Jones does, too.
- [61:57]
James Palmer
It's been interesting. It's been interesting. All right, Diana, you told us about Nick Bosa at the start of this show, but he's not the only injury that Kyle Shanahan's been dealing with. Weapons galore have been down. Brandon Ayuk still not back. Jennings missed this game. George Kittle's on iron. Brock Purdy himself has now missed two games. We've seen some Mac Jones and they're three. And oh, what Daniel, what has Kyle Shanahan done right in pulling certain levers to make sure that not only are they 3 0, but they're 2 and oh in the division.
- [62:25]
Diana Rossini
Yeah, I still don't think that The San Francisco 49ers are dominant in any. In any area. Right. Whereas usually we see. Especially with Kyle Shanahan, we see the run game just explode. I have not seen that on either side of the ball yet. Yet they're winning. So that tells me like, that's the good news for them. Right? Because I don't even think they're good yet. All their stars haven't been on the field at the same time. Obviously, you laid out all the injuries and perhaps there'll be some more coming up, unfortunately, because it just seems to be the trend there in San Francisco. And obviously a defense without Nick Bosa, that's. That's gonna be tough sledding for them. But look, Kyle Shanahan is great at what he does because he doesn't ask the quarterback to do anything that he is not comfortable doing and to just. Kyle has that trust with his quarterbacks. He's able to get this connection with all of them. And I think that's why they have felt so confident with Mac Jones, who played his best game of his career against the Saints last week and then. And then was solid in this outlet. Look, he's like, great, but. All right, so maybe I'll be a little hard. Yeah. Yeah. Why am I doing so tough? Okay, let me ease up.
- [63:30]
James Palmer
Okay. Because it wasn't out reset it.
- [63:33]
Diana Rossini
I just think for do over. No, I just think for an offense that could be electric when all the. When Brock is back. I think once they get him back, I think this is where we're gonna see this thing take off. And the fact that they're surviving right now in their three. And now all, you know, all the credit in the world of them and their coaching staff.
- [63:51]
Chase Daniel
Is he. But so he'll be back.
- [63:52]
James Palmer
You're saying he's expected to be back this.
- [63:54]
Diana Rossini
And they were hoping three. Three weeks was like. Excuse me. Two weeks was kind of the number.
- [64:01]
Chase Daniel
There's a limitation. Like, is he fully healed? Is like. Like, what's the deal with it at.
- [64:04]
James Palmer
The end of the week? Right, Diana? Like, he just kind of got out there and so, yeah, there was.
- [64:08]
Diana Rossini
There was a thought that he could be back up maybe. And then they decided to just say, you know what? Let's just not even take this gamble here.
- [64:14]
Chase Daniel
So you don't think they're rushing it? Like, I just.
- [64:16]
James Palmer
I.
- [64:16]
Chase Daniel
With a toe like that?
- [64:18]
Diana Rossini
No, no, it's a good question. Especially like, you're seeing Joe Burrow situation.
- [64:21]
Chase Daniel
Come on.
- [64:22]
Diana Rossini
If you're a quarterback, how do you not see that and freak out? Right? Like, don't rush me Back. Look, the fact that James made a good point if he was mentally okay with going back out on the field to at least go to practice, even though it was limited, that's a really good sign. Knowing that they probably want to be careful. So could it be another week? Yes. But I still think they're going to try to get him ready to go.
- [64:42]
Chase Daniel
I just think until, until they like it's always hard with the toe. Right. Because like I, I, I have thought that Brock Purdy, the last like year his game has been not as much as it was rookie or he's just staying in the pocket. He's moving around a lot like he is scrambled a lot to not really to run but to throw. I just, that's only thing I'm a little worried about watching how that will impact his game this next game because I don't know if he's going to be healthy enough to like with a toad to like sprint out of the pocket every single time.
- [65:15]
Diana Rossini
Well, they got the Jags, but the Jags and then the Rams on a short week.
- [65:20]
James Palmer
Yeah, force and turnovers. I'll say that, though.
- [65:23]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [65:24]
James Palmer
Yeah. I, the one person that we didn't mention and I'll say him before we say goodbye. Ricky Pearsall has come on. He is third in the NFL and receiving. He's, I believe, first in yards per target, second and first downs. He's got 14 first downs already. Ricky Pearsall's been playing his tail off talking to people there. They love the stamina, the, the ability to stay on the field in and out of breaks. The, the route running, the savvy already in year two is showing and it's been huge. When we men, all the other guys that are out in that offense, imagine him getting this growth early because he missed obviously so much of his rookie season having this. And then you get auk back and then you get, you know, kiddo back and then you get these pieces around Brock back. It's going to be interesting. Maybe they're just sustaining things until they can get healthy. So keep your eye on those, those San Francisco 49ers.
- [66:13]
Chase Daniel
All right.
- [66:13]
James Palmer
For, for Chase, Daniel, Diane Rossini, James Palmer here. That was another wonderful, wonderful Monday of a scoop City presented by EB don't forget next Monday. We are live at noon Eastern. So, Diana, wear a green houndstooth jacket.
- [66:30]
Diana Rossini
I will. Would you like to hear my German accent?
- [66:32]
James Palmer
Yes, I would.
- [66:33]
Chase Daniel
No.
- [66:34]
Diana Rossini
Thank you for hanging out on Skip City.
- [66:37]
James Palmer
Whoa.
- [66:38]
Chase Daniel
German.
- [66:46]
James Palmer
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